… all the places I've traveled in mind, body, and spirit…

I love living alone. I get to run around the house in my favorite brown suit (it fits me perfectly!), mop the floor if I wake up in the middle of the night, or just come home after a long day of talking, kick my soggy socks off and leave them in the middle of…

The careening caravan of “ThanksChrsmasNewYerKwanzHanuk” holidaytime is supposed to be a fun, party-filled, family hugging, laughter and singing train ride (whoowhoo!) , but it can feel more like a bruising train wreck for those of us bumping along without a spouse, significant other, or who have just gone through the loss of a loved…

Buckner International/Shoes for Orphan Souls What a privilege it was to travel to southern Mexico to help distribute shoes to children there who participate in Buckner’s Family Hope Centers! Buckner International began with a minister from Tennessee whose heart was moved to compassion for the many orphans he saw after the Civil War. He…

My father is a tall,lean man with an easy, gentle walk. He rubs his whiskers across my face and laughs. When he talks, he talks…. and talks… and I listen in… My father has taught me many things throughout the course of my life–how to run from a headless chicken, how to clean a fresh-caught…

I came to St. Francis Cottage full of the weariness of the entire week stuffed into my invisible back pack. I began to look forward to my spontaneous staycation the moment I left work. After I made my reservations, I hurried home to grab a few items to toss into my real overnight bag, and…

Where in the world am I? Home sweet home again! Travel Interrupted…For the last 3 ½ years I have enjoyed traveling the world for work. I had a dream job. I worked on various military bases in Germany, Italy, England, and the Caribbean and traveled to various places in between. Through a series of unexpected…

Big Mama’s Reading Room My Big Mama was a woman with a very large personality, among other things. She was my maternal grandmother, and she loved to cook pound cakes, go to club meetings, wear big hats, and count money. She was proud of being full-figured, and when she needed help getting her “girls” into her large…

During my first month on “the Island” I decided I needed to get my captain’s license. This meant that I would learn to drive a boat and could then rent them from the marina. I imagined myself sailing elegantly thru the waters, the wind whipping my Afro gently around my bronzed face, my sunglasses making…

(Two years ago I visited the dazzling country of the United Arab Emirates , or the UAE. Here’s the story…) As excited as I was to visit the famed tourist haven of Dubai, I barely knew where it was on a map. I found it east of Saudi Arabia, bordered by Qatar and the Persian…

Travels of the mind… Children are among God’s most interesting of creatures. The first friends I made on this assignment were of the young kind. We’ll call one of my new little besties Kaitlyn. She’s in early elementary school. We saw each other for the first time one morning, then again that same afternoon. She recognized me…

Travels of the body… Two days before Christmas I flew to my newest work destination, an island base. From the plane I could look down and see the dry and patchy terrain below, the intense aqua color of the sea. I took a ferry ride across the bay and landed nervously on the side where I…

Happy 2017! Hey, its been awhile. Let’s catch up a bit… Home is still my favorite place in all the world, but I find I cannot stay there long these days…the urge to travel has gotten the best of me during this particular phase of my life. When I left Germany last June, however, I…